They lunged through the doorway together and headed, for the staircase. From down below came the unexpected sound of heavy footsteps.

Someone — or something — was coming up the stairs.

14

Jupiter Has a Hunch

At the Sandow Estate Jupiter had been working feverishly carrying the junk from the barn to the truck. The First Investigator was alarmed by Mr. Harris’s worry over Bob and Pete. Although he was sure that Bob and Pete could take care of themselves, Mr. Harris might be right about their being in danger. Jupiter wanted to contact Chief Reynolds right away.

When the truck was finally loaded, Jupiter climbed into the cab and chewed on his lower lip as Miss Sandow came from the house to talk to Uncle Titus.

“Mr. Jones,” the birdlike lady said, “I can’t imagine what you’ll do with all that ancient clutter of mine.”

“Don’t you worry, ma’am,” Uncle Titus said gallantly, twirling his enormous moustache. “I’ll sell it all at a handsome profit, I’m sure. Now you just see that you charge me properly.”

“Goodness, I wish Ted were here. I haven’t the slightest notion what to charge. Knowing your boys seems to have made Theodore so happy, I really feel I should give it to you. Especially if they can find my little statuette for me.”

“Find your statuette?” Uncle Titus sounded puzzled. Jupiter held his breath, for Uncle Titus wasn’t always pleased about the boys being investigators. But this time the peppery little man was too happy about his truckload of new junk to be displeased. He nodded. “Well, the boys do seem to have a knack for that sort of thing. Now, let’s consider what I owe you, ma’am.”

Jupiter almost bit a piece out of his lip in impatience, but at last Uncle Titus settled his business, and the truck rolled out of the estate in the direction of Rocky Beach. Konrad drove at his usual headlong pace and soon they reached the salvage yard. Jumping out of the truck, Jupiter rushed to the hidden trailer. Aunt Mathilda and Uncle Titus were far too excited by their purchases to notice his quick escape.

He crawled into headquarters through the main tunnel, and emerged through the trapdoor in the floor. Bob and Pete were not there. Quickly, the First Investigator activated the telephone-recording machine. There were no messages at all. Worried now, and remembering Mr. Harris’s instructions, Jupiter crawled back out and left the junkyard through Red Gate Rover.

He walked the few blocks from the salvage yard to Rocky Beach police and headquarters. He asked at once for Chief Reynolds and, because the boys were well-known to the Rocky Beach police, he was soon sitting across a desk from the Chief himself.

“Well, what can I do for you, Deputy?” Chief Reynolds said with a smile. He was referring to the honorary junior deputy title given to the boys for help on a previous case.

“We’re working on a case, sir,” Jupiter said quickly, “and I think we need to call you in now.”

“All right, suppose you tell me all about it.”

“There isn’t time, sir! Mr. Harris… ”

“Slow and steady, Jupiter,” the Chief instructed. “Start at the beginning. That’s the way to give a report.”

“Yes, sir,” Jupiter agreed reluctantly. He started to tell the Chief about the first night Bob and Pete had seen the amulet and the laughing shadow. He talked rapidly in an effort to finish his story as fast as possible.

“Whoa!” Chief Reynolds stopped him. “A laughing shadow? Bob and Pete must have been letting their imaginations run high, don’t you think?”

“No, sir,” Jupiter said. “Last night I heard it myself, and it was really spooky. It was tall, too, but I didn’t think it looked humpbacked. Pete and Bob were closer, of course, and they said it had a beaky nose and small head that kept jerking around.

“While Pete and I were watching it, a truck drove up with four headless midgets!”

Chief Reynolds coughed. “Headless midgets?”

“Well, no, not really. I mean, sir, they looked like that, but I think they had bags over their heads. They were prisoners in that lodge, you see, and someone had put bags on their heads so that they couldn’t see.”

“And you think that it could have been one of those ‘midget’ prisoners who called for help and threw the amulet over the wall?”

“That’s right, sir,” Jupiter said. “I think one of those prisoners stole the amulet and then hid his message for help in it. When he was recaptured, he threw it over the wall in the hope that someone would find it.”

“In a hidden compartment? Pretty slim chance, Jupiter.”

“I’m sure he was desperate, Chief. Maybe he expected some friends to be around, but they weren’t and we found it. Then the two dark men attacked us to get the amulet hack. They probably wanted the amulet for itself. I doubt if they even knew about the message.”

“Dark men?” Chief Reynolds snapped. “What dark men?”

“I’m sorry, sir, you’re right about telling it in order. I forgot to mention them.” The First Investigator described the two dark men who had pursued the boys and attacked Mr. Harris.

“Oh, those men!” the Chief sounded almost relieved. “Well now, they’re easier to believe in than laughing shadows and headless midgets. We’re looking for that pair ourselves after their attack on Harris. All right, Jupiter, let’s go and see your Mr. Harris at once.”

The Chief summoned two of his men, and with Jupiter they hastened out to the Chief’s car. They drove straight to the old house of the Vegetarian League. As they turned into the deserted street on the edge of the town, Jupiter saw Mr. Harris’s car parked in front of the house.

“He must be here,” Jupiter said. “That’s his car.”

Mr. Harris opened the front door before they had a chance to knock. Looking straight at Jupiter, he asked anxiously, “Where are Bob and Pete? I was expecting to find them here.”

“I don’t know,” Jupiter said. “I thought they’d be here, too. Did you find Ted anywhere?”

“No, I didn’t. I thought I spotted his car near your salvage yard, but if it was Ted he got away from me. I came straight home.” For the first time, Mr. Harris looked curiously at Chief Reynolds.

“Oh!” Jupiter suddenly remembered, his manners. “This is Chief Reynolds, Mr. Harris. He’s going to help us.”

“It was good of you to come over, Chief,” said Mr. Harris in his usual brisk manner. “We seem to have some problems here. When those intruders first broke up my meeting, I thought it was just an attack by some typical anti-vegetarians. They can be quite fanatical, you know. But from what Jupiter has told me, I’m beginning to understand that it may be much more serious than that.”

“You mean the laughing shadow and those headless prisoners?” Chief Reynolds asked.

“Well, perhaps the boys are a bit overwrought about those matters. I understand they don’t really agree on what the laughing shadow sounded like. But it does seem as if there is some plot afoot involving Miss Sandow’s gold statuettes.”

Chief Reynolds looked thoughtful. “The Chumash Hoard is a local legend, and it may well exist. From what I’ve heard, a lot of people might risk a great deal to get it.”

“And do a great deal,” Mr. Harris said grimly. “But I’m worried about Bob and Pete. According to Jupiter, they should be here.”

“We’d better have a look around,” Chief Reynolds decided, “in case they were here before you returned.”

Inside, Mr. Harris and Jupiter searched the ground floor. Chief Reynolds and his men examined the upper floors. When they met again outside Mr. Harris’s office, no one had found a trace of Bob and Pete. Jupiter was alarmed.

“They’ve got to be around here somewhere!” he declared.

Mr. Harris frowned. “You don’t think that perhaps they saw the dark men and followed them?”

“That would be just like the boys,” Chief Reynolds acknowledged.